ALCS: Mariners stumble early in 6-2 loss, Blue Jays force Game 7 Monday
There was no infield win dance. No dogpile on the mound. There was no clubhouse champagne, no “World Series bound” merchandise, and no pennant for the only major league franchise without one.
A city that has endured 48 years of baseball without a trip to the promised land will continue its lifelong wait. The American League Championship Series (ALCS) has reached an all-or-nothing Game 7.
With a chance to reach their first-ever World Series, the Seattle Mariners fell to the Toronto Blue Jays, 6-2, in Game 6 of the ALCS on Sunday at Rogers Centre.
They committed consecutive fielding errors in the second inning, sparking a Toronto rally that held up in front of their roaring crowd. They followed with three inning-ending double plays in a row, killing the prospect of a comeback.
Logan Gilbert was far from his dominant self, falling victim to the early surge that didn’t have to be. And all of it compounded into a loss that sets up Monday’s ALCS Game 7 in Toronto — the biggest stage in Seattle Mariners history and the first Game 7 the club has ever played.
“I feel like everybody’s really excited for tomorrow,” Julio Rodriguez told reporters. “Win or go home. We’re going to lay everything out there, and whatever God has for us, I feel like that’s what we’re going to take.”
Sunday unraveled early when Toronto’s Daulton Varsho lined a leadoff single to center field in the second inning. What should have been a routine play by Rodriguez was bobbled, a fielding error that allowed the speedy Varsho to reach second base.
Toronto’s Ernie Clement followed with a routine grounder to Mariners third baseman Eugenio Suarez. It could have been a textbook double play, had Varsho remained at first, but Suarez was forced to check the runner in scoring position and bobbled that play, too.
Blue Jays right fielder Addison Barger, a Bellevue native, made the Mariners pay with a go-ahead, RBI single to right field. Second baseman Isiah Kiner-Falefa then dribbled another RBI single down the third base line, a swinging bunt that scored Clement. Gilbert walked the bases loaded but limited the second-inning damage to two runs, fanning Andres Gimenez and Nathan Lukes before inducing Vladimir Guerrero Jr.’s threat-ending groundout.
With two outs in the third, Clement tripled and Barger launched a two-run home run against his hometown team — doubling Toronto’s lead, 4-0, inside a rocking Rogers Centre. An uphill climb became a treacherous cliff.
What made Seattle’s Game 6 loss that much more disheartening? The Mariners had more than enough chances to strike back, grounding into three straight double plays in the third, fourth, and fifth innings — twice with the bases loaded.
“We had opportunities,” Cal Raleigh told the media. “I thought we did a great job with our at-bats. We were able to get people on.
“It was just one of those days where we couldn’t get the big run home. Give them credit. They kept us off the board. ... Sometimes, that’s just how baseball is.”
Blue Jays starter Trey Yesavage, who made his major league debut just 34 days ago, induced Raleigh to roll over a third-inning splitter to shortstop with the bases full. The cruel record was replayed in the fourth, when J.P. Crawford dragged that same Yesavage splitter to second base. Rodriguez grounded into Seattle’s third inning-ending double play in a row, smacking a fastball to shortstop with Dominic Canzone at first base.
“These guys have been so good at (the little things),” Mariners manager Dan Wilson said. “Unfortunately, it led to a couple of runs early. But again, this is a team that has done the little things all season. It’s also a team that has bounced back a lot. This is a chance for us to do that again.
“We’ll do it tomorrow night in Game 7.”
Guerrero Jr. delivered a solo homer in the fifth, extending Toronto’s 5-0 lead and ending Gilbert’s outing. The right-hander went four-plus innings, allowing seven hits and five runs (four earned) with one walk and three strikeouts. He surrendered two home runs to Barger and Guerrero Jr.
“Toronto got (Gilbert’s) pitch count up pretty early,” Wilson said. “All in all, I thought he had a good fastball, especially early, and his split was good at times. This is a tough lineup. They did what they had to do to get the ball in play.”
The Mariners tried to claw back, but too little proved to be too late. First baseman Josh Naylor demolished a no-doubt, solo homer beyond the right field bullpens in the sixth inning. Two batters later, Suarez blooped an RBI single down the right field line that scored Randy Arozarena from first base. But it was all Seattle would muster, plagued more by early miscues than the Blue Jays themselves.
“(Toronto’s) a good club,” Raleigh said. “They’re here for a reason. They have great talent over there as well as great approaches. It just comes down to two good teams, and going out there trying to execute and trying to game plan the right way.”
Seattle reliever Matt Brash unleashed a seventh-inning wild pitch that allowed Guerrero Jr. to advance from second to third base, and a throwing error by Raleigh in an attempt to nab him rolled into left field. Guerrero Jr. coasted home for his second run as Toronto added insurance, 6-2.
Yesavage went 5.2 innings, allowing six hits and two earned runs. He walked three and struck out seven, flashing a nasty splitter that propelled the 22-year-old to the major leagues in his first full professional season.
“We did get some base runners on, but you give a little credit to Yesavage,” Wilson said. “The secondaries that he had tonight were good. He kept us off-stride and kept the ball on the ground for those double plays. We’ll make our adjustments offensively tomorrow and be ready to go for Game 7.”
Wilson confirmed that George Kirby will start Monday’s Game 7, dueling Toronto’s Shane Bieber. Kirby, one of the game’s best strike-throwers, was shelled by an aggressive Blue Jays offense in Wednesday’s Game 3, surrendering eight earned runs and three home runs. Will Kirby and the Mariners receive their redemption story?
“He’s the guy that we want in that situation,” Wilson said. “He’s thrown the ball well. It’s his spot.
“I expect to have all hands on deck down there in the bullpen, ready to go at any point.”
The proposition is equally exciting as it is terrifying: World Series or Go Home.
The winner of the American League Pennant meets the defending-champion Los Angeles Dodgers in the 121st World Series.
“I’m excited for the opportunity,” Raleigh said. “Obviously, flush this one (and) come out ready to go tomorrow.”
This story was originally published October 19, 2025 at 8:02 PM with the headline "ALCS: Mariners stumble early in 6-2 loss, Blue Jays force Game 7 Monday."
